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Alright – so, how this new autism benefit in Minnesota and at the Federal level came about is really no secret because we kept blogging and asking media coverage throughout the years.

Sadly though not surprisingly, some attention hungry MN ABA providers or as I like to call them “blood sucking, greedy and racist” not all of them are crying a river because ooohhh, they did not get credit.

First, let’s get one thing clear – I have never ever ever ever seen any of these blood suckers fight, advocate, testify or ask anyone why Managed care low income autism families were being denied ABA, Really never. The only time they got involved with this benefit is when their private market coverage failed and ours passed in 2013 and during HSAC process. and that was only because they wanted to tell DHS how good of a job they are doing with their families in quality of care, supervision of staff, family driven services, child centered therapy blah blah. Oh, how can I put this diplomatically, for them to say that is like George Wallace saying I care about civil rights or being inclusive. Don’t get me wrong, at least Wallace said it loud and proud “segregation now and segregation tomorrow”. They do it here with a flavor of Minnesota nice delivered with a hint of sugar. They mostly do it subliminally in their intake process, their discharge process, their supervision process and their overall way in how they teach and deal with low income and minority autism kids/families.

Now, all of the sudden they want to take credit for low income managed care kids being able to get ABA. Are you bleeping kidding me.

This would be all too funny, if it wasn’t sadly true. In fact, even now they still never talk about or mention how many managed care kids they serve or care to serve. To them it is about the bottom dollar (not all of them). I remember back in 2013 session in one of the House committee where I must have done good in testifying against their 25 million dollar private market autism bill while they wanted to reduce the 12 million dollar bill for the low income autism kids where they recommended MA kids have an age cap of seven, while wealthier private income kids had no age cap, one of them came up to me after words and said “what difference did it make if ABA was called ABA or skills training”. I told him – it made a difference because the system can not discriminate against low income kids who are disproportionately minorities and are getting screwed by the current policy.

Now, they want to claim credit – again are you bleeping kidding. My response is “boohoo and cry me a river”. Better yet, buy Justin Timberlake’s cry me a river CD and maybe some blues jazz and really cry.

According to public data – none of these blood suckers have managed care (Ucare, Medica, etc) kids and do any intensive ABA therapy because they still don’t give a flying hoot about how our kids services are funded. Also, according to public data the following is what they were reimbursed for by the state Medicaid agency and their racial data for the children they serve. My take is most are just greedy bastards, some are simply racist. Luckily, there are few good ones.

This is 2013 and 2014 data (note 2014 reimbursement not complete yet)

Behavioral Dimensions – $6,879,362 – total kids 249, minority 33

Helena – $1,662.507, total kids 151, Minority 67 (Thanks Helena!)

PIE $1,373,11 – total kids 45, minority 10

Autism Matters $224,569, total kids 15, minority 2 (come on Tara!)

Minnesota Autism Center $34,728,536, total kids 405, minority 96 – (the most minority kids, but sadly most are forced to do 40 hours or hit the road. MAC also discharges children whose parents ask for quality of care or less hours who are mostly minorities, my son being one of those dozens of kids. MAC’s philosophy is 40 hours of center based or hit the road which is a contradiction to CTSS statute of child centered, family driven and culturally responsive. In fact, even if the child has objective 2nd medical recommendation of less than 40 hours, MAC still refuses to listen and discharges the child and family from treatment – usually abruptly)

Behavior Therapy Solutions of MN $2,378,348, total kids 148, minority kids 41 (not bad!)

Holland Center $1,968,126, total kids 43, minority kids 16 for both years, (not bad)

Home and Community Options $321,350, total kids 29, minority kids 2 (not good)

Lazarus $1,532,557, total kids 28, minority kids 11 total for 13 and 14 years (not bad)

RCA in Rochester $4,740,430, total kids 77, minority kids 18 for both years (not bad)

MEAP $1,342,325, total kids 30, minority kids 3 Asians and ZERO Black (I would say they have a problem with diversity and borderline racism – my opinion)

Lovaas $4,607,339, total kids 44, minority kids 8 total for both years (it seems to me there is a problem with diversity staff and kids here – my humble little opinion)

St. Davids $2,068,152, total kids 236, minority kids 85 for both years (they seem to care about diversity the most and even opened a center for Somali autism given the crises in our community – Thanks much!)

As you can see the biggest ABA provider is MAC and has been refunded over $34 million dollars in just two years. Since this is a publicly funded treatment – DHS must have a better oversight for intake, discharge, quality of care, patient rights, child progress, family input and everything else to assure safety, quality and what is best of the child/family is always done.

My questions and gentle friendly suggestions to DHS which is the agency that is suppose to assure our kids learn and progress as well as assure treatment is always child centered which means it should be based on research and science, and the family/parents have rights in what and how their child’s treatment is going would be;

1. Please make sure there is some oversight and accountability in quality of the treatment and intensity of hours is appropriate for the child and family. It can not be the provider’s way or the highway.

2. The treatments are culturally appropriate meaning our holidays are respected and we are not told to bring our kids on our religious or cultural holidays.

3. Families/parents have a system in place to make their concerns/complaints should they arise and a system to assure continuence of care during that time for the child.

4. Are our center kids safe, if they get hurt – does it get reported to DHS, are parents made aware of and given explanation, can they complain if their child gets hurt under the care of these ABA providers and what is that process for the family/parent?

5. If a child is 15 and has done 10 years of ABA in center and still not even toilet trained, nonverbal, etc – can you prevent that. I see this a lot whereby providers just keep the child in center based services to age 10 or even 18 for 40 hours a week then kick the child out after they age out, yet the child still has significant needs. What the hell has this ABA provider been doing for this child and family for the past years? This is both cruel and heartbreaking. DHS must assure kids have a baseline of their skills and an objective eval to see progress. If not, please don’t keep funding it. Ask for accountability of the treatment.

6. If a parent/family has concerns in the care and treatment plan of their child, is there a system set where they can freely and without being retaliated against speak up and give their input. Often ABA providers label those of us that ask what our kids are learning (difficult, hostile, hard to please, yada yada). In other words, if we keep our mouth shut, ABA companies keep our kids then drop them after they age out and they can no longer handle or DHS will no longer pay. There is no measure of the quality of treatment, assuring progress is being made, parents are the table of their children’s treatment plan.

This is when most ABA owners come and usually ask DHS for less rules and regulations so they can continue business as usual. This is no longer acceptable. DHS must treat these ABA providers just like it treats their other publicly funded providers, i.e child care centers, state hospitals, etc. Maybe even more oversight, because our kids with ASD can’t always tell us what happened or did not happen in these centers that are usually small cubicles.

Finally, my free advice to these ABA owners that seem to be self righteous, arrogant yet ignorant to take a flying leap and stop claiming credit for staring this new ASD benefit to assure managed care and fee for service kids get equal access to ABA therapy. You had nothing to do with when I started this and you still have no desire to take managed care kids or how their treatment will be paid. Maybe one day I will write a book about my experience in this new policy and with many of these blood sucking ABA providers in Minnesota. Autism by itself is hard and challenging – add racism, greed, bullying, arrogance, self righteousness and ignorance makes it unbearable and painful to the soul.

Above words do not reflect any committee, agency or candidate

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Minority Advocate

Alright – so, if you follow national autism news then you heard of Neli Latson who attracted a lot of national media attention. Neli was caught up in a system that is not always fair or even understands mental health, autism, disability and mental illness. I think most in law enforcement lack the proper training, education and awareness in how to deal with autistic kids and adults. Then when you add the color of one’s skin to the mix and often subtle bias policies in law enforcement then you get the exact situation that happened to Neli Latson. You can read Neli’s story in my previous post or here or here or here or just google his name.

At last Governor of Virgina Terry McAuliffe who got injuries resulting from a vacation in Africa managed to work from his hospital bed granting pardon for Neli who will now be able to go to a treatment center. “McAuliffe was up and working from his hospital room. He was making and taking calls and even granted a conditional pardon to an autistic Stafford inmate, confirmed spokesman Brian Coy that will clear the way for Reginald Latson to seek treatment for his autism”.  Here is that full story of how wonderful this governor is in listening to everyone of not just his voters, but parents and advocates from around the country including me.

I could not help but think the contrast between our governor here in Minnesota and Gov of VA. I don’t live in VA, yet when I would call a lot to ask when and if Gov Terry can pardon this autistic young man – no one in his office ever told me that I was an angry Black woman, I did not live there, they could not do anything or call my local legislator which is what Dayton’s office does even for the voters that live in Minnesota. It was refreshing to hear kind people working in a state government office with no attitude and no elite personality.

There were hundreds if not thousands of autism parents, advocates and reporters calling about Neli, yet Gov Terry’s office never got overwhelmed, irritated, arrogant or out of touch as Dayton’s office often seems to be. It was simply amazing to see this kind of governing. It is too bad we don’t have that here in land of disparity mixed with ignorance and arrogance.

At any rate, Neli is now able to get the therapy and treatments he needs. Equally important is the fact that this has raised some important questions in how we can avoid this in the future. Although – I really have zero desire to advocate at MN state legislature this year, but If I were or If I could advice others who might is to ask a legislator to write an autism license plate legislation in which funding from that could go to autism wondering, training and education for Minnesota law enforcement in autism and other disabilities. The best person for this in the senate might be Sen Dibble and in the house – maybe Rep Dean. I think if asked or persuaded in a way that is reasonable – it could pass.

Finally, I would advice Neli’s mother who was a force in this to take her story to IACC and to Congress to assure what happened to her son never happens again to him or another child and ask for policies to prevent such tragedy.

As usual, above words do not reflect any candidate, agency or committee

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Minority Advocate

Alright – so, every year around the state of the union – some kind of survey or study comes out telling us what the quality of each state is in the United States. And, Minnesota – the land of kazillian lakes has always landed in top ten. This year it is number two best state to live and tied with Vermont in education. This caught my eye, best education – what?

If you are a minority especially Black and Brown and have children in school in Minnesota in particular in Minneapolis – then you know they are failing or about to fail. The graduation rate for minority kids in Minnesota is one of the worst in the country, yet MN ranks high in education. WTF? In other words, the achievement gap between white and minority students is so high here that it makes one wonder – why?

Furthermore, while Minnesota enjoys one of the best unemployment rate in the country – Black and Brown unemployment is the highest – WTF? Why such a disconnect and where is the love for minority Minnesotans? Minnesota also has one of the worst racial disparity for the justice system. Again, WTF?

This means Minnesota Department of Health has persistently failed Black and Brown health. This means Minnesota department of employment and economic development has failed Minnesota’s Black and Brown workforce and it means Minnesota Department of Education has failed to assure every child gets FAPE (free and appropriate public education). Above all MN DFLer’s that mostly control these agencies have failed their Black and Brown voters.

Nevertheless, this failure did not stop MN DFL chair or as I like to call him Don King of MN politics claim credit for the good things here while ignoring the failures of their Black and Brown voters in education, health, employment and so much more. I remember the first I met MN DFL chair – it was me and few other Somali autism parents years ago right after Gov Dayton had won first time. We wanted to see why his health administration was ignoring autism and not doing any autism research. I remember one of the parents told him a story about when her car was totaled and the insurance rep told her that – her first response was autism already totaled my life. Another parent who had two autistic kids told him how one sleeps from 9pm til 1am and the other one sleeps 1am til 6am, and how bone tired he was. And, I remember I was watching Mr. DFL chair’s body language and he did not even blink once or have one iota of emotion or empathy for those parents that were telling him their struggles with autism. He reminded me of Don King the boxing promoter who just promoted his fighters despite how dangerous their job was by lacking empathy and human emotion.

The state of autism in Minnesota – I think DHS and MDE are doing much better than MDH. We are definitely better off than we were last year, but there is always room for improvement. At least in autism I and few other minority parents will fight with tooth and nail for equality, but for other areas – I really hope Black and Brown Minnesotans wake the heck up and fight racial inequality through policy changes. That is the best way to beat racial disparity.

Outgoing funny man Letterman said it best.

Structural racism blamed for some of our state’s persistent racial health disparity. If you don’t know what structural racism is take a look at your office tomorrow or leadership in your next meeting if no one is Black or Brown – that is the problem and structural racism. Then read racism without racist book and make a change starting with your office.

Above words do not reflect any agency, candidate or committee.

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Minority Advocate

I know this is not about autism per se. This is why this post is under my one and half cents. If we however think about the bigger issue here of are all White liberals welcoming, move us forward, progressive and inclusive then why are most districts, states, cities and counties they control from South Mpls to South Chicago to South Central LA suffering with health disparity, education gap, wealth gap and employment gap including very liberal Hollywood.

Last year when Liberals controlled all Minnesota government chambers during the final conference committee in particular the huge finance bill HF3172 – if you can believe it, I was the only Black person in this committee. And, they (not all of them) hated my guts and did not want me there. Keep in mind, I was only following autism bills, but I remember looking at the Senate Finance chair Sen Cohen and Ways and Means chair Sen Carlson looking at me like a cockroach. Don’t worry – their looks only energize me. But you would think Cohen who is a board member at Confederation Somali Community of Minnesota would at least welcome me and our autism issues. Yet, he did not and kept yelling at me in hallways complaining about my blog posts and emails to the committee members.

I also find it interesting in a comical way, how when I complained, blogged or sent emails to elected officials in Minnesota – that was somehow seen as rude and not nice. Yet, when Caucasian autism parents did the same-thing – they were simply advocating for their children. Uhhnn – I call that double standard and oh please if I piss off some arrogant Elected official then I have done my job in advocating to change the bias systems and policies they have written or pushed.

In other words, Amy Pascal and Scott Rudin making racist jokes about the leader of the free world and the president of the United States with a Harvard Degree is no different when White liberal politicians like Sen Cohen or Rep Carlson write and enhance bias and unequal autism policies. By the way, disparity comes from racism and racism comes from power plus prejudice. It is also no different when Sen Franken from SNL has no Black policy person in his office. You see the problem is not them, it is us. We need to learn how to vote differently and how to negotiate with our voting block power.

Now, Hollywood does not need Black votes, but they need to be BFF with the Black community and this is when minority actors, directors and producers form a coalition that has lobbyists that fight better roles and jobs for them. If not, they take it to TMZ or other media outlets. I think Chris Rock recently said that Hollywood was a white town and that should not be a surprise, but it can become a energy source for change.

Many moons ago before autism invaded my life, I wanted to be a Hollywood journalist and publicist that solely supported minorities in the industry. (oh please – don’t let the hijab fool you, Muslim women dream too). We are all products of our environment and as a young person growing up in Boston especially in the era of Willie Bennett – I know how powerful the media is in shaping people’s minds which then shapes not just Hollywood, but all kinds of policies. My advice to Black Hollywood is you need a Black and Brown Amy Pascal and Scott Rudin. Don’t settle for anymore slave or maid roles, demand better and except nothing less. Become directors and creators of your own shows and films like Tyler Perry and Spike Lee have done.

Finally, I think Malcolm X said it best when he described decades ago America’s white liberals and white conservatives. They say in Somalia a loud hyena is better than a quiet hyena. At least, you can run or defend yourself with the loud one. How do you fight quiet injustice rolled up with a hint of sugar that becomes salt in our communities. Malcolm X Said (white conservatives are not friends to black people but at least don’t try to hide it. Malcolm X had even harsher words for white liberals. He judged them to be “more hypocritical than the conservative.” He accused white liberals of “perfecting the art of posing as the Negro’s friend and benefactor” while using black people as a “pawn or tool” in their political fight with white conservatives. By the way, this is exactly what Sen Landrieu of LA did by pretending to be with Blacks when talking to them and against them when talking to Whites. I am glad she lost.

Above words do not reflect any agency, committee or candidate.

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Minority Advocate

Alright – so, if you follow national autism news then you heard that Seinfeld the actor and comedian oh and the millionaire diagnosed himself with autism during an interview on NBC with Brian Williams. Well, this made some advocates and parents pretty mad and some who are always desperate that our kids and adults with autism to be different not disabled were very  happy. Then Seinfeld said oops sorry, scratch that – just kidding I am not really autistic. WTF, who plays with such emotional and toll taking disorder like autism. Well – only over-rated Hollywood – please look at me, pay attention to me actors that have no idea the real lives of autism families.

My take was – are you kidding me. The show Seinfeld was based on an abstract comedy not falling down then laugh comedy. And, excuse me but understanding and creating abstract anything is soooooo difficult for our kids and adults on the spectrum. I think Kim Stagliano from Age of Autism who has three kids with autism put it best. My heart goes out to parents like Kim who have more than one child on the REAL spectrum.

I am sorry, but Seinfeld did not just acted on his show, he created it. Heck, I would like his kind of autism. I think out of touch celebrities who might not understand autism by any means think they can self diagnose themselves. The problem with this is – those with influence and power see these people and assume they represent all autism. How bad can autism be if Jerry Seinfeld has it

There are true autistic heroes like Temple Grandin, John Robison and Ari Ne’eman who are all autistic and have achieved so much, but Mr. Seinfeld – come on.

Autism is a nuero-developmental disability and while it affects each person differently, these kids/adults have many challenging and difficult things they deal with daily.

Above words do not represent any committee, agency or candidate.

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Minority Advocate

All right – so, unless you live under a rock – you heard about the tone deaf and really not inclusive article by Alessandra Stanley of New York Times about Shonda Rhimes. Ms. Stanley who is an overrated and arrogant critic for the Times tried to critique Ms. Rhimes’ television shows including her new one. And, well she decided to just label her…. wait for it…drum roll please…it is original… not really, “angry black woman”.

Gee, I wonder where I heard that before. Oh yeah, that was the article written about me regarding the autism task force where Mr. Browning, the twin brother from another mother of Ms. Stanley cleverly tried to label me as the…. you guessed it  “angry black woman”. Sometimes, I wonder if they even read their work out-loud before it is published. Or better yet, if the Tribune and NY Times could hire more diverse editors to catch such hurtful and demeaning articles.

The sad and irony similarities here is that both articles were read and approved by White men editors. And, how can a White man possibly understand things from the lenses of African American women. For instance, after Ms. Stanley wrote her really hurtful and shameful article about Ms. Rhimes – several NY Times editors read it and did not catch the insulting and racist remarks. Thus, it was released for publication. This tells us that editors who are suppose to provide balanced and objective views on stories are often out of touch themselves. Here is the Times’ response to this. What is interesting in almost comical way is the same language used by almost everyone in a position of power who has no intention of changing or actually hiring diverse workforce. For example, when MPR’s new top guy started couple of years ago, I asked him if he was going to make MPR newsroom more diverse to reflect the diversity of Minnesotans. And, he told me almost word for word of what the NY Times editor said. (we are committed to diversity, we care, blah and more blah). Move forward to 2014 and no African American reporter has been hired by MPR. Therefore, don’t hold your breath NY Times actually hiring more diverse editors or reporters. This is a statement that they all use and we buy it like it is holy water, when in fact it is useless and worthless words that never become reality. This is also why many good African American journalists are leaving mainstream news outlets to go to minority owned ones.

Another example of how White men editors are out of touch and tone deaf to realty is when Mr. Browning decided to just insult me and label me an angry black woman – it went to his editor who ironically knows me very well, yet failed to stop Mr. Browning’s bias and wrong information about me being printed. Plus, according to Minnesota Department of Health, they did not comment or spoke with Mr. Browning which makes his facts false. In fact, I was told by one of the Tribune editors that they had a hard time covering this story. Now what now? are you kidding me. I am often the lone African American autism mom advocating for minority autism families against all odds at MN State Capitol. And, I am constantly begging the Tribune to do autism stories, and they often tell me they are full with no space to write or autism at this time is not all that important. Yet, when this overrated and arrogant reporter wants to insult me, they have a hard time with the content. WTF?

If I were a non-minority autism parent that did even half of the autism advocacy I did for the past few years, Mpls Tribune would have written much different stories and views. But the fact is I am a minority autism mom and the way they praise us is by calling us angry black women. When will this get old and outdated. I remember I once went to MPR newsroom to be interviewed by BBC Radio – London because I had to go to a local radio to do the taping. While I was waiting for the studio room to be available, I noticed a reporter talk about a Caucasian man with a disability. I watched this reporter’s body language as she described this person and I remember she did many takes to get her words right. She made this person sound so good and kind that the listener would fell in love with. I remember thinking to myself and imagining if stories of minority communities were given such careful and thoughtful process. I think it will be interesting to see what Minnesota mainstream news outlets do when Black Journalism convention comes to Mpls in 2015.

This is exactly what this reporter from the Times did as well. Ms. Rhimes is one of the most talented and amazing writers in Hollywood in any color and to label her such derogatory and demeaning way is wrong, racist and cruel. The Times tried to apologize and even used the usual statement of we are committed to diversity, we care – blah blah. For the Tribune and what they wrote about me, the best I got from their editor in chief and the health editor was to write my view and send it to their editorial person who in my opinion sucks, not a typo. So, I did not waste my time writing to them because I knew they would not publish it.

Some good news might be that with the purchase of Mr. Taylor – things might get more fair and less bias. If you can believe it, I contacted Mr. Glen Taylor and he actually called me back, (I know why would a billionaire call me, but he did to my shocking pleasant surprise) He said it is his goal for the Star Tribune to do stories that are fair, objective and tell both sides of the story. The publisher of Mpls Tribune is sadly from the Times as well, but maybe with Mr. Taylor’s guidance, he can be more diverse, equal and fair. Now, in the interest of fairness, I personally have had a really good experience with New York Times especially their health reporters and editors. In fact, one of their health reporter is one of my good friends that I have lunch or coffee with when in NYC. For Somali autism, NY Times has been really good and supportive. They have come to Mpls to do autism stories ever since back in 2009 to recently. I admire, trust and support their health news section. It is their Hollywood/entertainment section and reporters that I find it out of touch with reality and minorities.

If you are thinking what do news outlets have to do with autism, think about it more. Everything autism is about policy and politicians write policies. And, politician’s legislations are often covered by news. For example, Rep Norton who is the queen of autism disparity has written more racist and bias autism policies than any other legislator in MN. Luckily, we have defeated her bad autism bills since 2010 with the help of Sen. Berglin, Sen. Lourey, Sen. Benson, Dan Severson, Rep Clark, Rep, Loeffler, Commissioner Jesson and so many others, but the ultimate goal is to replace and defeat Rep Norton by voting her out of office.

Addition; It looks like People Magazine who is being sued by an African American editor – their only one in history, imagine that – also decided to weigh in this drama by tweeting last Thursday night after Ms Rhimes show that had Viola Davis offensive and rude tweets. Really, are they kidding me. You see this is exactly why diversity in every corner is a MUST in this country of nation of immigrants. Today’s immigrants are very different than centuries ago and if USA wants to maintain its super power ability and moral authority, then it must treat its citizens fairly and equally – period. Viola Davis is a beautiful and stunning woman and comments like the Times insulting dark skinned women is why so many African American women including Somalis bleach their skin with mercury containing creams. We all know mercury causes many developmental disorders including AUTISM. My advice to any young woman of color is look at yourself in the mirror and know that you are BEATIFUL just the way GOD made you. Don’t let some useless and clueless writer make you doubt that.

Above words do not represent any agency, candidate or committee.

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Minority Advocate

Alright so, I think we all heard by now that there is a CDC senior researcher that is stating CDC hid or omitted some numbers indicating African American male children have a higher risk of autism when given the MMR vaccine on schedule. Dr. Thompson was among those scientists along with Dr. Allsopp and Dr. Boyle among others in 2004 study which stated there was no link between MMR and Autism. It seems that now 10 years later, Dr. Thompson is having regrets because there were some data or numbers that were left out of the study.

Then Dr. Wakefield released this video making the connection of Tuskegee medical experiment on Blacks and CDC deliberately leaving data out for Black boys. Wakefield is a lot of things, but stupid is not one of them. My guess is he used that analogy because he knew it would provoke raw emotions in particular against Dr. Allsopp who is an African American Researcher at CDC and was part of this 2004 autism and MMR study. For the record, personally I like Dr. Wakefield. I think he is charming, charismatic and in his own way cares about autism families. I know he gets beat down because of his own study and how he got paid by this or that. On the other hand one can make the same analogy with previous CDC director who now works for Merck which manufactures vaccines. In other words, I think we all do what is best at the time with what data and information we have.

So where does this leave us and what happens now in moving forward. As I have said many times, I am not a researcher nor pretend to play one anywhere, but I know Dr. Allsopp and she is an amazing researcher and one of the most sincere people I have ever met during my autism advocacy. Dr. Allsopp knows what it is like to be a minority especially an African American woman in the south, she went through hell and back to reach where she is today. I remember I once asked her how she deals with racism and she said “the best payback is success in your own life”. I have sought and received Dr. Allsopp’s advice and wisdom many occasions about racism and autism. She has always told me to do my best and help those behind me by example. If you can believe it – I once contacted the White House and asked them to assure more diverse members in IACC and they said to send my suggestions. (I know the White House would actually care about my suggestions). I called Dr. Allsopp and asked her who I should recommend and the first thing she said was let’s make sure we get those that don’t just look like us, but will speak and advocate for minority autism families and children.

Dr. Allsopp is thoughtful, kind, shoots from the hip and she has put me in my place many times and rightfully so. Dr. Allsopp is one of the main reasons we had diverse folks in the Somali Autism Study done by the University of Minnesota. I remember when the guidelines were being written for the grant – I called Dr. Allsopp and asked to please make sure there is a community portion. And, if you follow my blog here then you know when UMN finally got that grant – the first three people they hired were non Somali and non-minority. They hired three Whites and sent them to CDC about a Somali autism study that was advocated and made possible by Somali autism parents for Somali autism children. Well – you can imagine how livid I was. I called Dr. Allsopp screaming and cursing probably in Somali and English and Dr. Allsopp calmed me down and said – CDC will fix this. As a result, UMN added Somalis to those doing the research. So, I know Dr. Allsopp & there is no way in hell – she would harm any minority child.

Therefore, I stand-by and defend Dr. Allsopp 100%.

I do however hope that CDC comes out with a stronger statement than this or comments and explains their 2004 study, how and why some data was taken out and what it now means for the millions of autism families in this country. For the record, I did ask CDC director’s office to send me answers regarding this because we can’t just pretend it did not happen. I also contacted the law firm representing Dr. Thompson and asked if Dr. Thompson is standing by his claims and they said yes he is. The only thing he did not like was that Dr Hooker taped their conversations and Dr. Wakefield put his name online without his permission. In other words, his lawyers are saying Dr. Thompson is now saying CDC took some data out which stated Black boys were at a higher risk for autism if given the MMR vaccine on time. Therefore, given the many problems our Somali autism community has with Minn dept of health and their inability to help families and the community’s fear of autism and rightfully so. It is best if CDC came out with much stronger statement and really explained what happened, why it happened and what do we do now. Given this study and this study, I think ignoring will only make more parents not trust CDC which will have much worse public health consequences.

As usual, above words do not represent any agency, committee or candidate.

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Minority Advocate

Alright, so – as we all heard the Koch brothers were kind enough to donate over $25 millions to the struggling UNCF (United College Negro Fund) because the current U.S Dept of Education Sec Duncan sort of ignored their needs. These universities teach and nurture African American college students in a friendly, welcoming and amazing environment.

I think it is critical that these universities exist and those with the big bucks donate when they can which is what Koch brothers did. I also think it is sad to bring silly politics into educating our young to prepare them for tomorrow. Nevertheless, the silly and over-rated (my little humble opinion) decided to end their small and not all that productive relationship because God forbid UNCF decides to survive and accept Koch’s donation.

A letter sent by the Union’s President stated the following;

Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, penned a letter this week to UNCF President and CEO Michael Lomax informing him that he is ending the collaboration between the two groups on a joint scholarship program.

“Like many supporters of the UNCF, I was deeply troubled by your decision to accept $25 million from David and Charles Koch. But I assumed that in accepting those funds you were in no way supporting or lending the name of the UNCF to the political or social causes or substantive views of the Koch brothers,” writes Saunders. “So I was truly stunned to learn that less than two weeks later, you attended and spoke at the Koch brothers summit in California. This was a betrayal of everything the UNCF stands for.” With friends like that African Americans don’t need enemies.

“The response has been what we expected,” Lomax said in an interview last month of backlash aimed at UNCF. “The criticism has come but there’s also been strong affirmation, particularly within the African American community, that we should accept this gift.”

Following AFSCME’s decision, Lomax said that the union’s decision was disheartening but that it would not deter UNCF from its mission.

“UNCF has over 100,000 donors with a wide range of views, but they all have one thing in common: they believe in helping young students of color realize their dreams of a college education. For over 70 years we have never had a litmus test and we have asked all Americans to support our cause,” Lomax said in a statement.

Let’s think about this statement for a hot minute here – because UNCF accepts money from two American brothers who happen to believe a different political view called Republican makes the Union leader disappointed. Are you freaking kidding me. Where exactly is it written that only Democrats care about the education of African American students? excuse but – aren’t majority of the public schools they control in this country failing African American students? Oh yeah – they are. Yet, Blacks should just take marching orders and stay on the DFL plantation regardless of their failed education policies. Are you kidding me again, really. I mean the audacity and nerve of Mr. Saunders to not only think of such racist remarks but to actually say it publicly, loudly and proudly should speak volumes of the disconnect between DFLers and their failed education policies.

Imagine for a minute if UNCF took the same amount of donation from George Sorow and a conservative organization cut ties with UNCF. What do you think they would have been called. They would have been called racist, bias, bigots, and every other name in the book. I just can’t believe this is 2014 in America.

Here is my two cents to every DFLer who assumes all minorities will vote for them and believe they are the only fair minded Americans – come down of your high horse, don’t you dare think you have our votes guaranteed irrespective of your policies and ain’t nothing fair about your policies, because if they were then why are minority children failing in every district you control in this country from South Mpls to South Side Chicago to South Central LA?

Personally, I am glad UNCF accepted the donation and even more glad the Koch brothers were willing to help their fellow Americans get a better education.

Some light end of this education disparity for minority children nationwide: Nine students from California sued their state and won. They argued that because the state system of hiring and firing teachers was unfair since teachers kept their jobs not because they were good, but because selfish & arrogant unions fought for them that kept students from learning and getting a good free public education, thereby violating their constitution.

The other light in this tunnel is even Sec Duncan is coming around on education disparity gap which seems to be pissing off education unions, but really who cares if they are mad. Furthermore, previous Obama right hand man Robert Gibbs is joining the fight for children against ineffective teachers.

So, the tide is turning slowly but surely at least nationally.

Nevertheless, Gov Dayton is still in la la land in this area. Remember he vetoed a bill by the state legislature that would have fixed last hired/first fired teachers because Gov Dayton would rather protect and help his union friends instead of protecting and helping Minnesota students. Dayton is up for re-election this year and if you have a child in a public school and they are not learning at grade level. This is your chance to vote him out and elect someone who will truly put your children first and unions last. It should be our children first, not politicians wanting to keep their seats.

Related note: Askar is for school choice including charter schools and Noor is for protecting unions over children. Please make the right choice and vote for Askar. In addition, Johnson is for school choice as well whereby Dayton is not. Think about it as you vote this election year.

Thanks!

Above words do not reflect any candidate, committee or agency.

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Minority Advocate